


An Awkward Confession

by solarishashernoseinabook



Series: For the Rest of Our Lives [1]
Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Fluff, Humor, M/M, romantic confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarishashernoseinabook/pseuds/solarishashernoseinabook
Summary: Horace somes to a realisation about how he feels about Will...now he just has to tell him.A prequel to A Quiet Spot of Hunting
Relationships: Horace Altman/Will Treaty
Series: For the Rest of Our Lives [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646935
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	An Awkward Confession

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to aseikh for beta reading!

Life had been good to Horace lately. 

He and Will were home from their triumph at Macindaw. Will had mentioned Horace’s help in his report to Crowley, who passed this contribution on to King Duncan, who had thanked Horace when he had come to visit the battle school Horace was helping to supervise. This made Castle Araluen’s battlemaster take notice of Horace, and he had been giving Horace more work – and more important work, too. Horace shouldn’t have anything to complain about, if he looked at things objectively. 

But something had been gnawing in the pit of his stomach ever since coming back from Macindaw. It had started one night when Horace was keeping watch, and it was time to wake Will for his turn. He had put his hand on Will’s shoulder, and had touched bare skin where Will’s shirt had shifted in his sleep, and his stomach had given a jolt. Ever since a vague feeling of – _something_ – had been staying there, getting worse whenever Will was around and getting almost unbearable whenever they ended up touching. 

Life had been good to Horace lately, but that didn’t mean Horace was at peace. 

* 

_He was in Macindaw, back against the fire. It was time for Will’s watch. He stood and went to the sleeping figure. His hand touched the bare skin and his fingers burned where they made contact. Will rolled on his back to look up at him. ‘Horace?’_

_Horace felt his lips move, but sound wasn’t coming out. Will didn’t seem to mind; in fact he rose to meet him, his lips parting—_

Horace jerked up, his head colliding with the bottom of the wooden bunk above him. Sir Thom, asleep above him, let out a grunt before resuming his gentle snores. The image of Will’s face, so close to his own, swam in front of Horace’s eyes. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and went to the washbasin in the corner, splashing water over his face and scrubbing it with the rough towel next to it, but the image didn’t disappear. 

* 

‘The new apprentices are getting along well,’ Sir Thom said. 

‘Faster than I expected,’ Horace said, nodding. ‘I wonder if we can move them on to more advanced—’ 

Horace and Thom rounded the corner and nearly collided with another pair coming the same way. Battlemaster Richard was one of the pair, and Horace and Thom bowed, muttering apologies. Horace straightened, his eye catching the figure next to Richard, and he did a double take. 

‘Alyss?’ 

Alyss grinned. ‘Hey Horace.’ 

‘What’re you doing at Castle Araluen?’ 

Battlemaster Richard spoke instead. ‘Coming to get you, actually. Will you excuse us, Thom?’ He gestured Horace to follow him and he and Alyss walked down the hall to Richard’s office. 

Horace had never been here before. It was a large and spacious room, a portrait of Richard hanging on the wall behind his desk and a soft, thick rug covering the floor. Richard sat at his desk and gestured to the two chairs before it. Alyss took one, and after a moment, Horace took the other. It felt strange, sitting in front of a superior like this, but on balance, Horace thought it would be ruder to decline the offer. 

Richard gestured for Alyss to explain, and she turned to Horace. ‘Baron Arald wants you back. He saw how well you, Will and Halt all worked in Macindaw,’ a warm smile spread across her face, ‘and he and Crowley want to create a task force. You, Will, Gilan and Halt will be sent on longer missions together. If you agree to it, of course.’ 

Horace felt his stomach do a backflip. ‘Yeah, he said. ‘Yeah, I agree.’ 

* 

The feeling in Horace’s stomach hadn’t left, but Horace was inclined to put it down to excitement over the changes his life was going through. In the span of a week he had packed his things, said goodbye to his comrades at Castle Araluen, and moved back to Redmont Fief. He was on his way to the knights’ quarters now, his things in a bag over his shoulder, having already stabled his horse, when a hand slapped his shoulder. ‘Horace!’ 

Horace jumped and looked down at Will’s grinning face. He broke into an identical grin even as he felt his skin tingle under Will’s hand. ‘Will, hey. You’ve already been told?’ 

‘Yeah, this morning. It’s great to see you again, how’s Castle Araluen?’ 

Horace and Will fell into deep conversation as if they hadn’t only seen each other a few months before. Horace didn’t even notice going into the familiar Redmont barracks and put his things away automatically, not realising where he was putting anything until Will pointed out he had put a muddy pair of riding boots on top of his white surcoat. Horace dragged his eyes away from Will as he put the boots to one side and brushed as much of the mud off as he could, but it was hard to make himself focus on the task. Now that he and Will were together again, he found it almost impossible to look away. 

‘So,’ Will said, ‘Halt won’t admit it, but he’ll be happy to have you back as well. Wanna come for dinner?’ 

‘Oh.’ Horace looked over in surprise. ‘Yeah. Tonight?’ 

‘Tomorrow, Halt just got back from a trip to Seacliff and he’s tired.’ 

Horace grinned. ‘Yeah. Tomorrow sounds good. 

* 

_A single candle sat on the table between them, the only thing illuminating the decadent food on his plate. His date had set up this romantic meal for them, complete with a soft linen tablecloth and delicate silverware. Horace tried to look at his date’s face, but the candle didn’t reach that far. All he knew was that he loved this person immensely._

_He reached out and took their hand. A hand that was smaller than his, but with callouses below the first knuckle. Horace knew those callouses._

_Rangers had those callouses._

* 

‘Hey.’ Someone snapped their fingers in front of Horace’s eyes and he blinked. His eggs were sliding off his fork, suspended halfway to his mouth. The images from his dream last night still hadn’t left his mind; this was the fourth time he’d been jolted back to reality, having lost himself again in remembering. 

‘We were asking if you’re all right. You’ve barely eaten anything,’ Anthony said. He and Horace had been apprentices together and Anthony remembered Horace’s prodigious appetite. 

‘Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m just, ah, I’m going to a dinner tonight and I don’t wanna spoil my appetite,’ he said. Nobody at the table looked like they believed him, but before they could say anything Horace stood. ‘I’m going out for some fresh air.’ 

The warm sun and fresh breeze improved Horace’s mood immensely, but his mind was still preoccupied. He closed his eyes and let the wind blow his hair, wondering— 

‘You keep going like that and you’re going to run someone over,’ Halt said, and Horace nearly jumped out of his skin. 

‘Sorry, Halt,’ he blurted out. ‘I was just – just trying to think—’ 

‘It gets easier with practice.’ 

Horace blushed. ‘Um, where’s Will?’ 

‘Getting dinner for tonight. He’s checking the snares.’ Halt jerked his thumb behind him. ‘We figured we’d need extra for you.’ 

Horace grinned. ‘Thanks, Halt.’ He ran off. 

Halt watched him go, squinting as he got farther away, then turned and shook his head. ‘Bloody kids.’ 

Horace paused once he got to the treeline. He remembered most of where the snares were and was certain he remembered something around here. He squinted and noticed the snare under a protruding tree root. It was currently empty, but this was a well-travelled area, so perhaps Will was waiting. Horace looked carefully. 

_There_. That bush wasn’t shaped quite right. And it was downwind of the snare and partially hidden by a large tree. Will was sitting in there, waiting for something to appear in the snare. 

Horace sat down on the other side of the tree so any small animal wouldn’t see him. ‘Hey.’ 

No response, but Horace expected that. He lowered his voice. 

‘Will, I’m sorry, but I need to get this off my chest and I don’t want to do it around Halt.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Will, I – lately I’ve been – I keep having – the thing is—’ He sighed. ‘Ever…ever since Macindaw…ever since Macindaw, I’ve been…I’ve been thinking about you. A lot. And I…I feel weird when we touch and I want to be around you all the time.’ 

He took a deep breath. ‘A couple days ago I dreamed we kissed. Well, almost kissed. I woke up just before that. And then last night I dreamed we were on a date. I can’t stop thinking about it.’ 

He was quiet for a long time. Will hadn’t spoken at all, hadn’t even moved. Maybe he should stop talking now. Maybe Will didn’t feel the same, he had always been close to Alyss after all, and there was that year he spent with Cassandra, they must have drawn close then too— 

Horace summed up all his courage. ‘Will, I…I want to date. Just a couple dates, just to see how it goes. And then maybe if we like how it’s going we can—’ 

‘Horace?’ 

Horace’s eyes flew up. Will was standing a short distance in front of him, holding a brace of partridges. ‘Who’re you talking to?’ 

Horace wheeled around and yanked the bush aside. There was no one there. 

‘Horace?’ 

‘Uh. Um. Nothing. Wasn’t talking to anyone.’ He got up, dusting himself off, and cleared his throat several times. 

‘Are you okay? You look pretty red,’ Will said. 

‘Just the sun. Let’s go.’ 

Will fell into step at his side. They made light conversation on the way back, mainly about what they would make for dinner. Horace felt calmer, somehow, as if he just had to admit to himself how he was feeling. It felt like it would take years to work up the courage to say something like that again, but Horace was strangely okay with that. 

For now, this closeness was enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> I 100% wrote this to have an awkward scene where Horace thinks he's talking to Will, only to be proven wrong :"D Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
